His father in Xinjiang, a region in northwest China, also disappeared that month. "I still don't know if he's dead or alive," he recounted.

During 11 days in police custody, he claims, three Chinese officials questioned him specifically about his father.

"Where is he, and how does he send you money?" he told AFP.

Ahmed was in the green group, meaning he was eventually released. He fled to Istanbul in early October 2017.

Egypt's interior ministry and the Chinese embassy in Cairo did not respond to AFP's repeated requests for comment.

"Those found to be overstaying contrary to the law, including Chinese citizens among other nationalities, are expelled," said Ahmed Hafez, Egypt's foreign ministry spokesman, when asked about the deportation of Uighurs in 2017.